Bellator officials recently announced the switch, which sees Downing step in for an injured Rob Emerson.

Bellator 97 takes place July 31 at Albuquerque’s Santa Ana Center. The evening’s five-fight main card, which includes the new Downing vs. Freire bout, airs on Spike TV. The preliminary card streams on Spike.com.

“It takes a ton of heart to accept a fight less than 20 days out, especially when you have to step in the cage with one of the most dangerous men in the world in ‘Pitbull,'” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney stated. “Jared is a guy we’ve had our eye on for a while, and win or lose, he’ll make a great addition to our featherweight ranks.”

Two of Downing’s first five professional fights took place in the Bellator cage, where “Demon Eyes” earned wins over Danny Tims and Chad Vandenberg. Most recently, he completed a four-fight stint under the Resurrection Fighting Alliance banner, including a hard-fought split-decision loss to Lance Palmer in June, when he lost that company’s featherweight title.

Meanwhile, Freire looks to rebound from a recent split-decision loss to Bellator champ Pat Curran in a failed bid for the title. That and a split-decision loss to former champ Joe Warren remain the only losses of Freire’s career.

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